The association of resting heart rate with diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome in the Korean adult population: The fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Objective: Investigate the association of resting heart rate (RHR) with diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome in a data set that represents the whole Korean adult population. Methods: The data of 18,640 adults, that represent the whole Korean adult population, was used to examine the association of resting heart rate (RHR) with blood related variables, diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome. Results: Compared to participants with a RHR of <60 beats per minute (bpm), participants with a RHR of ≥90 bpm had higher odds of diabetes {3.85 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.14-6.90], 3.34 (95% CI 1.83-6.10)} and metabolic syndrome [3.55 (95% CI 2.19-5.74), 2.15 (95% CI 1.37-3.35)], for men and women, respectively. Furthermore, compared to the participants with normal BMI (<23 kg/m²) normal RHR (<80 bpm), participants with high BMI (≥23 kg/m²) high RHR (≥80 bpm) had higher odds of diabetes [2.51 (95% CI 1.83-3.46), 4.89 (95% CI 3.63-6.58)], hypertension [3.88 (95% CI 3.00-5.01), 2.61 (95% CI 2.07-3.28)], and metabolic syndrome [9.67 (95% CI 7.42-12.61), 13.09 (95% CI 10.25-16.73)], for men and women, respectively. RHR shows a positive dose response relationship with the prevalence of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The combined association of RHR with BMI increases the potency of RHR as a marker of diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: This study shows that RHR has an important role to play as a potential clinical measurement and prognostic marker.